Treating aerophagia with contingent physical guidance.

Contingent physical guidance was used to treat chronic aerophagia. This consisted of guiding the participant's hand over her mouth following each attempt to engage in aerophagia. A wristwatch was then correlated with the contingent physical guidance procedure. Responding remained low in the presence of the wristwatch, even after contingent physical guidance was withdrawn.

Credentialing behavior analysts and the Florida behavior analysis certification program.

Nearly 1,000 professions are regulated in one or more of the 50 states. Behavior analysis is not regulated as a distinct profession except in Florida. Typically, the regulation of behavior analysis is subsumed within other professions (such as psychology) whose practices often differ considerably from those of behavior analysis. This paper provides an overview of the common methods of regulation and discusses the pros and cons of regulating behavior analysis independently of other professions. It also describes how one state agency in Florida has regulated behavior analysts through the Behavior Analysis Certification Program, with a historical summary of the development of the training curriculum and certification examination and description of current efforts to refine and expand the regulation of behavior analysts. Suggestions for establishing formal regulation of behavior analysts in other states are also given.

Choice and terminal-link response topography.

Six pigeons responded under concurrent-chains schedules. For 3 birds, pecking was required in both initial links; for 3 others, treadle pressing was required. For all subjects, pecking was required in one terminal link and treadling in the other. The initial links consisted of independent variable-interval 60-s schedules. All birds were exposed to five pairs of terminal-link variable-interval schedules over 10 conditions: 6 s versus 54 s, 18 s versus 42 s, 30 s versus 30 s, 42 s versus 18 s, and 54 s versus 6 s. Comparisons of responding under nominally identical terminal-link variable-interval schedules showed that, without exception, higher choice proportions were obtained for the alternative correlated with terminal-link pecking. Moreover, terminal-link delay to reinforcement was shorter for terminal-link pecking than for terminal-link treadling chains. This factor, along with response force requirements, was implicated in explaining the present as well as previous findings of preference for pecking over treadling. It was found also that the delay-reduction hypothesis provided only a moderately accurate description of performance under concurrent chains in which different terminal-link response topographies are required. These findings suggest that quantitative models neglecting the effects of differing terminal-link topographies may be incomplete.

Effects of mephenytoin and methsuximide on the reaction time of pigeons.

Although antiepilepsy drugs are used clinically, their behavioral effects are poorly understood. The present study examined the effects of mephenytoin and methsuximide, two antiepilepsy medications, on the reaction times of pigeons. Pigeons were trained to depress and hold a foot treadle until a stimulus change occurred. Releases within 2 sec of the stimulus change were reinforced with access to mixed grain; premature releases or releases occurring after the 2-sec limited hold were not reinforced. Mephenytoin (40, 60, 80, 120, and 160 mg/kg) and methsuximide (25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/kg) produced generally dose-dependent increases in median reaction times and decreases in percent responses that were reinforced. The present procedure has not previously been used with pigeons and is a promising technique for the study of reaction time with this species.

Rumination and vomiting in the developmentally disabled: a critical review of the behavioral, medical, and psychiatric treatment research.

Medical and psychiatric research regarding the treatment of vomiting and rumination among developmentally disabled individuals was selectively reviewed. Because of serious methodological flaws which pervade the psychiatric literature, claims for the effectiveness of psychiatric interventions for vomiting and rumination cannot be justified. Medical interventions (e.g., pharmacological and surgical interventions) were found to be effective when rumination was attributable to a specific organic pathology. In the absence of identified organic pathology for rumination, medical interventions are of questionable efficacy and because of the risks and side effects associated with these procedures, are seldom the intervention of first choice for functional rumination. Behavioral procedures for the treatment of vomiting and rumination are described and critically reviewed for their efficacy, side effects, and the generalization and maintenance of their effects. Although methodological weaknesses limit conclusions regarding the efficacy of some behavioral interventions, several procedures have sound experimental support including oral hygiene, differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors, and food satiation procedures. These behavioral interventions are the treatments of choice when organic causes of rumination cannot be identified. Suggestions for future research and applications are discussed.